This I Felt I Had to Share

This email came through from a friend I have known for a long time, she is in a prayer group that I am in and occasionally we touch base with one another.  Yesterday she sent me an email, kind of one of those chain thingies, but not one asking me to pass it on or I would have bad luck or anything, just a simple message.

I am not one to talk about religion or politics on my blog but I just had to share this with you.  As I read it I thought about the WOYWW'ers, Wipso and Twiglet, who have made so many dresses for the children in Africa and it prompted me to think about making something myself and sending it off to an agency to hopefully do some good and bring a smile to a child's face.  I need to think about what I can make and get on with it.

Here is the email:

"This is beautiful.....  written by a doctor who worked in  South Africa.

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive; as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator).

We also had no special feeding facilities.

Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in.

Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates)..

'And it is our last hot water bottle!' she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles.

They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways

'All right,' I said, 'put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts Your job is to keep the baby warm.'

The following  noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died

During prayer time,  one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. 'Please, God' she prayed, 'Send us a hot water bottle today. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon.'

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, 'And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?'

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say 'Amen?' I just did not believe that God could do this.

Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything; the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home.

Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there on the verandah was a large 22-pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly-colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored.. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend.

Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the.....could it really be?

I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried.

I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, 'If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!'

Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully-dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted!

Looking up at me, she asked, 'Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?'

'Of course,' I replied!

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator.

And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it 'that afternoon.'

'Before they call, I will answer.' (Isaiah 65:24) "

Thanks June!

Well, I got Two Cards Made

But neither were what I had intended or what was kind of in my head.  I knew I wanted lace, pearls, ribbons, prettiness for both of them - that would have been appreciated by both girls but it just would not come.

Firstly, Naomi - I made two (in the bin); a third is still on my worktop (thought it might come in for the other card) and finally gave up.  I decided to buy one as it was a special 40th Birthday and she means so much to me. Then I realised I did not have time to go into the town centre to get one and a "funny" stamp was winking at me from the pile I had on my desk.  This was what I ended up with

I adore these ladies but am not sure they are Naomi's cup of tea so I am going to make her something else, got an idea in my head but it will take some time so watch this space.  Inside it said "Dance like no-one's watching ... who can have you committed" - I love this set!

That was Wednesday's make; so yesterday, Friday, as I was seeing Jayne that evening I knew I had to get her card done.  Motivation to go in my room would not come at all ... until late afternoon when I went in and played about with an image I brought back from my friend Mary's and a new punch I bought from Michaels

Sorry the light is catching it (and it has been delivered now so no second chances) but the image is of a couple punting or rowing with a clock at the bottom corner and an ink bottle and hand writing at the top corner.  I had stamped and embossed it in white to do the technique Mary had come back with from Hero Arts so I used Tattered Rose, Broken China, Seedless Preserves and Evergreen Bough (a new favourite) to colour the image and also a strip of cardstock.  Then I used my butterfly punch from MS to stamp out a border and scattered the punched out butterflies all over the card.

That's it, the sum total of my crafting for the moment but I have an urgent card to do today and things to get ready for a crafting day tomorrow at Padgate.  Wonder what tomorrow will bring ... lots of nattering and little done or lots of crafting and a whole lot of motivation to get going again.

ps yes, they both love purple as a colour - wonder if it is something to do with February birthdays?
pps am still deciding when to launch another blog candy, important date coming up in my calendar in three weeks and some time away with girlfriends in two weeks.  Either of them could see the launch - will think on it but know I can fill the crown of that hat with goodies.

Blog Candy Winner

And the winner is ....

...

...

...

No 6 in the list and that is

...

...


Ann B - can you contact me privately please.

Well done, hope you are a Timmy fan and that you like what I have filled the bag with.

Don't despair the rest of you as I will be giving away the hat we used to make the draw from.

Here it is the right way around

As part of my next blog candy

Of course, as it came from Prima it will have to have some Prima Flowers to go with it for you to decorate it. Might even throw in some other goodies, a stamp or two?  Watch this spot for news of what and when it is coming.

BLOG CANDY CLOSED

WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER TODAY

I have this little goody bag that was signed by a certain someone and as it just sits idly in my stamp room I have decided it can go to a good home.  So the candy is this little bag full of goodies.  DON'T YOU WANT TO ENTER JUST FOR THE BAG?

To enter for my Blog Candy I'd prefer you to be a follower as I would like to give a 'thank you' to someone who calls in now and then.  Please don't join just to get the candy, or leave me as soon as the candy has gone as it is unfair to all those lovely people who do pop by and support me/become friends via Blogland.

So to enter:

 Become a follower

 Post a picture of my candy to your side bar

 Let me know that you are a follower by leaving a comment

 Watch this blog from the 29th January for pictures/news of CHA

Candy closes mid February.   Good Luck!

Sporty Men

Well, I cannot believe how many entries we have had so far for our month of MEN.  I really thought I would tax you all with this but now we have a wealth of ideas to draw upon when we look at the Just for Fun blog for this month.  Congratulations to everyone who has joined in - and Thank You from me.

This week I chose "Sport" but went off to America not having managed to produce anything before time ran out.  Whilst there it was Robert's birthday and I just had to produce something in the way of a card but knew he was not into Baseball or anything like that.

I had been showing Mary various ways how to use Distress Inks and had coloured in with them with a paint brush, first pressing the pad down on an acrylic block.  That's how I did this twisted easel card for him.

Most men like messing about in boats and most boys like lighthouses so I combined a couple of stamps, did a bit of masking and there was the card.  Wish I could remember the sentiment that I used for the "stopper".

So "boating" is my chosen sport - head on over to JFF to see what Von and Zoe have come up with, I think you will be delighted with their samples.  Good luck and hope to see you joining in.

I've decided to enter this also for the Creative Card Crew's challenge which is "Men" also.  Don't usually do this but what the heck!  (Mean enter one card for two challenges, didn't mean don't usually do the CCC challenge although this is the first time but hopefully I'll enter again).

WOYWW 141 Blog Candy Closing - Last Chance

Yep, the candy closes tonight and I will announce the winner in the morning (Thursday that is) or at some time in the day.  If you haven't signed up for it yet, click on the link in the sidebar or go to "Home" and read all about it.  The signature is genuine.  The bag is full.

Well, it is a week since I/we returned from America and CHA.  I think I gave you quite a lot of photos, including some this last weekend so I will finish off here.  These are some of the things I made at the workshops.

We had been up at 4.30 am on the Saturday as Mary wanted us to get to the hotel for seven and on to the Convention Centre in time to register and for 8am classes.  I didn't have one until eleven so Mary persuaded me to do hers at eight that morning.  You have seen some of the cards I did with "Animal Spirit Stamps" previously but here is the card we got in the class which shows the bear with each individual part of him coloured in.

Can you spot the ladybird (ladybug in America) - it is easier to spot here with it being coloured red than in the pictures of the Woolly Mammoth or the Ray as in my previous posts.  It's not too obvious but it is red and has black spots on its back, part of it is under a leaf.  (These stamps are stocked in the UK by Andy and Janice of Sir Stampalot - some great images and more to come with the new orders)

The whole idea of the workshop was to show you different ways of showing your clients how they could colour in without doing it as above.  So we had pure black and white and Distress Inks (as in the Mammoth), Alcohol Inks as in the Ray and now we did the Crane with Pearlex

This is maybe not a good example as we had to use Q tips to colour with and most of us are used to using a brush with our Pearlex but even so I think it loses the quality of the stamps - here it is in black ink only.

My second class was with Aileene's glue products.  Everyone laughed at me when I said I was going to make a rose out of a slice of bread.  Now I must confess, I thought I was signing up for something else but this turned out to be my favourite class.  Loved it, every minute of it.  I have never seen a class so well prepared, every step of the way it was evident that so much prep had gone into it.

We did a pendant covered with egg shells, a butterfly with a burnt brown paper bag and the rose, all in a two hour class.  Some also did a ring but mine fell off the metal into the wax so mine did not get finished.  Must do it and wear it now I am home.  The burnt bag technique really got to me and I must do some more, the samples they had were fabulous.

Here's a closeup of the rose, it is so tiny but so easy to do and having done cake icing I think you could make other flowers out of it too. Great embellishments and so strong when they have dried off.

This is my journal page done with Suzi Blu, the zaniest person I have met in a long time.  We spent so much time laughing and my poor neighbour had to wear the "bunny" hat because she could not get on with her work but it certainly helped her as she made a fab piece in no time.

Another class I took was Tulip Body Art where I expected to come out with all the knowledge and know how to prepare me to paint faces etc.  I met a lovely guy, Richard, who allowed me to use a stencil on his arm and paint a Chinese Dragon on him.  Ouch, I had to remove the sticky stencil and it hurt me more than it hurt him to do so.  Didn't feel I learned anything in this class - enough said.  Did get some great products though which I will pass on to some friends who might use them.

Another class was by EK Success and Jolee's Boutique (French General).  We had so much stuff to create with that most of us just managed to do the Inspiration Board.  I nearly finished the Notepad cover - just need to add the pad and a pencil and then I have to do the Fold Up Tag and Notecard Holder to complete the class.  Here is the Inspiration Board

All products inspired from old world France ... French General Fabric Sheets and Borders, mix and match buttons, trims and embellishments from French General Notion Kits, die-cut letters printed on adhesive canvas, etc.  We got lots to play with and we got to keep the scissors and the border punch.

This is the notepad

Sadly I got so carried away with the show that I forgot to go to the Dreamweaver class I had booked.  I hold my hand up, I now have to pay $10 "no show" fee and I deserve it.  When I realised I was besides myself and went and apologised to the vendors.  I had so wanted to do this class!!!

My last class gave me this certificate

Several of my friends knew I was "certifiable" and I now have a certificate to prove it LOL.  It was with Tombow (the lady I had done the shoe Make & Take with was leading it) and we did an accordion book but had the option of keeping each section separate to use as a set of cards - I did it together.  Apologies for the wonky photo - took it on the bed

First page was using glue to adhere fabric to card and then another glue to use (as we use Glossy Accents) on the button.  The second page was the dragonfly using Irojiten coloured pencils.  I loved these and wouldn't mind a few sets of them as they blended beautifully and came in sets of beautiful colours.    Third page used Mono Multi Glue to stick fabric together as we were stuffing the body of the bird with cotton wool.  Worked well!  Last page used the Dual Brush Pens by putting the colour on acetate first and then picking it up with the Blender pen.

Fifth page was again using glue and fabric (plus a Power Tab), sixth using the Irojiten pencils again, this time  with a strike stroke on the bird, seventh, and my favourite technique, was using the Dual Brush Pens by pressing the tip down and lifting to create the bamboo - it works a treat.  Last page (the one with "Fly" written on is just the printed cs) was using the pencils again but this time with the scrumbling technique.  Because I liked the background cardstock and didn't want to obliterate the images I did cut out some of them rather than leave them as a square.

Now if you have got down so far, sorry I have rambled on haven't I, you need to have a bit of light relief and that can be found on the Stamping Ground which on a Wednesday is full of crazy folks, sorry, delightful crafters, who love to show off their desks.  Just reading what Julia (the boss WOYWW'ier) has to say will provide some light relief and bring a smile to your face, she has a definite way with words.  So I suggest you head on down there, get another cuppa and sit back and enjoy!

So where's my desk this fine Wednesday?  Getting ready for a workshop - Guess what I will be doing.  No peeks at shoves to left or right - it's a tip!  This was me in a panic last night trying to find a worksheet and now I cannot find the correct materials for sale on the internet.  Why would a manufacturer change a perfectly good colour for a crappy one?

You will have to wait until the beginning of March to see what this is all about.  My workdesk will get worse and worse as I have samples to make and loads of birthdays coming up - in fact I have one today and no card - EEK!!

Toodle Pip!

Close up of my Stash from America and Candy Closing Reminder

If you haven't checked the post at the top of my blog (or clicked on the picture of the little white bag on my side bar) you haven't long now as I will be making the draw soon.

Last week I showed you all the bed full of things I had brought back with me.  Some of you wanted closer looks so here you are

"Gummy things" - Those Aileene's Tacky Sheets are really good and my favourite of the show was the pink roller on the right.  A Tombow product, you hold it on its end (stand it up) and move the pink bit down and it leaves a very good Dot of Adhesive but you can also use it as a roller for a continuous adhesive.

Stamps I bought from various places, those amusing women and the tiny Magnolia girls are from Mary's shop and the tiny stamps are mainly from Joanne's as are the Tim Holtz ones.  There's also one from Scrapbooking Made Simple, a super shop Mary always takes me to.  The 7 Gypsies were a gift (top left).

 - 

Brads and Hardware - Mary's and Michaels

Pens, Markers - Freebies from workshops and Michael's/Joanne's

 

Deckle scissors and Punches, the bottom one was a freebie in a class.

Books, bought and some signed

Flowers for my hat.  "The Hat" was a freebie given to the first 50 people at the Prima stand each morning.  A BIG BIG Floppy Hat.  You went into the stand to decorate it with flowers etc but they soon realised it was an impossible task so began giving bags of flowers out for you to do it on your own territory.  When I went for mine she was at the bottom of the box and so she rummaged about and stuffed all the ones people had thrown out into the box as they got their own.  I got the lot, didn't I do well!  Actually there are a couple there from a Make & Take I did but which I pulled to pieces when I got home.  (You wouldn't have liked it, but the embellishments are nice)

Felt squares and Roving for me to make a bag (sometime) and some metal beads for spacers when I do some polymer ones again.

Some Make & Takes and other stuff

The watch was the M&T with Ranger (very popular), butterfly and circle with Vintaj using their new Patinas that are by Ranger.  The rose ring was a demo (you didn't get to do it, they did it for you) with Lindy's stuff, the frilly circular brooch was with Faber Castell Gelatos (love them - great to use - will do something soon with them and show you) - other things were bought.  Mary had bought me the pink lanyard but I left it at home when we went to Anaheim so I bought the blue diamante one whilst I was there.

Closer picture of the Make & Takes - cannot remember who I did the reddy orange pendant with, some type of glass paint I think, and the Steampunk pin was with the Stamp Maker people.  Someone wanted a closeup of my cuff from Spellbinders - here it is - we used the body die.  Also a lavender bag from Aileene's (fast becoming a favourite of mine - I really like what I did with Tiffany)

The blue flower was with Wendy Vecchi's paper but I cannot remember who I did the orange one with - enjoyed it and can remember doing it but that is all.

Some bits and bobs for presents, knitting wool (which did not get knit up), my paper stacks and a funny colour to the photo!

Gosh this post is going on isn't it?  I still want to upload what I did in my classes too.  Guess that will be another day - maybe for my WOYWW session.

A card done with Spellbinders - love these new tuck and fold dies, this has lovely embossing on it - on the black if you look closely.  The background is one of the new folders - fabulous, so very deep and two impressions in one folder - two different sizes too.